Merck
MRK -1.20%
& Co. said Thursday it will cut U.S. list prices for several of its drugs including the hepatitis C treatment Zepatier, and the company pledged to limit future net price increases.

It was the latest nod by a drugmaker to public pressure over drug costs.
Novartis AG
and
Pfizer Inc.
PFE -1.65%
said in recent days they wouldn’t raise U.S. drug prices further this year, in Pfizer’s case after President Donald Trump blasted on Twitter the company’s plans for a new round of increases.

Still, the scope of Merck’s price actions is relatively limited, sparing most of its top-selling products from cuts, such as the Keytruda cancer treatment, which has a list price of about $13,500 per patient monthly.

Related

Merck, based in Kenilworth, N.J., said it was cutting prices “to help reduce patient out-of-pocket costs.” The price cuts will go into effect in the fall, a spokeswoman said.

Merck and other drugmakers typically pay rebates to pharmacy-benefit managers and insurers that amount to discounts from list prices. But uninsured patients and those with high-deductible health plans can still be on the hook for the full list price.

In 2017, the average list price for Merck drugs rose 6.6% but net prices dropped 1.9%. Before that, Merck’s average annual list prices had increased by at least 9% since 2011, and average annual net prices rose between 3.7% and 6.2% during the same period—all higher than the broader inflation rate.

Merck’s new price changes include a commitment not to increase the average net price across its product portfolio by more than the inflation rate. The pledge still leaves room for higher increases on individual drugs, Evercore ISI analyst Umer Raffat said in a research note.

Pill Popping

Companies have been raising the list prices of their drugs this year, despite public criticism.